Time After Time
by sm4567
Summary: A higher power steps in Beetlejuice's afterlife with a plan and the intention to get both him and a certain living girl more closer than they could ever imagine. Will the effort work out for the best, or is just a hopeless case? Only time will tell, and perhaps, in a different lifetime as well. Rated T for now.
1. Chapter 1

Prologue:

It had been three and a half hours after the infamous bio-exorcist got his head shrunk from that voodoo magician and he was heading back to his spot at the waiting room. He wasn't in the mood for any clowning or joking around. He already went through with the _GQ _photo shoot and now he was pondering on how he would explain that whole situation to Juno when his time came.

''Damn that broad, that stupid little bitch.'', Beetlejuice said to himself, when he remembered her face and the kind of reluctance she showed during that wedding . Still, things couldn't get much worse than it was now. If he was able to cut a decent deal with the aged caseworker, then perhaps not only he would have his head back to its original size, but also find another way to implement all those revenge schemes that were forming in his mind.

''I am gonna get them, both her and those damn Maitlands, these fucking hillbillies.'', he thought to himself and closing his eyes in a vain attempt to continue all this daydreaming. The poltergeist acknowledged, though, the slow progress in the waiting room and decided that he had enough of it. Once he got up, he thought that a drink would be a a far more better option than staying here any longer. He didn't need to be reminded of the predicament that he was in, or the trouble that lied ahead of him.

Without making any fuss, he made his way through the offices and the accumulated paperwork, ending up in the same hall the Maitlands were not so long ago, at least by afterlife's time standards. He kept walking for some time, not aware that he passed by the rolling slade that concealed the lost souls room, and he was feeling somewhat grateful that no one in the desks in the previous room made any comment or even tried to strike a conversation with him. He was really not in the mood to talk to anyone about anything, all due to his rage and confusion that ate him on the inside. And he kept going his merry way, until his eye caught sight of a normal-looking door that had what appeared to be a cut-in-half circle shaped window, with three pieces of glass seperated by three lines. The way it was made reminded him of a sunset, and it would have been like that if it didn't have this peculiarity; the fact that a luminous green light emanated from what was inside that room.

For a while, the poltergeist forgot whatever troubled him at the moment. His curiosity got the best of him and after he gave a good handle on the doorknob, the door was opened, only to reveal that it was just some room with white walls and a table somewhere in the middle of it. The place was illuminated by a light balb, which didn't explain why he saw this shade of green shining through that window a few minutes ago.

He turned his head to the right and noticed the two janitors that were wiping the floor, and they seemed like they didn't pay any attention to what was was happening, nor were disturbed by what he was doing all that time. With a smirk on his face, and without any second thoughts, he entered the room and closed the door behind him.

He went to the table to examine a little closer, and on top of it there was something that appeared to be a piece of paper. When he went to look at it, he realized that this was a page torn up from some sort of noteook. He holded it on his right hand and noticed that one side was blank, but when he flipped on the other side, every line was filled with words, and not just any words. They were the names of places and people that he either knew or encountered when he was life, while the bottom was filled with several names and events of his afterlife, written down so roughly as if the person behind in a hurry to have it all down as some sort of document.

He hadn't have a clue whether this was real or someone's sick idea of joke, but when he reached to the last few lines, he came across the name of the girl he was about to marry and thus, he would have gained the freedom he wanted from the wretched hereafter, all those years ago, at that fateful summer night. He had the urge to speak her name out loud, lest he forgotten it for good.

''Lydia Deetz, Lydia Dee..'', was all he exclaimed and never finished, when all of the sudden,the enitre room was darkened, the walls and the table were gone, and the paper he was holding in his hands had vanished into thin air. Before he could react at the sudden change of his surroundings, he felt a sudden pain in his chest and fell to his knees, as if he was alive again and he was trying to grasp for air.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 1

Lydia Deetz was riding her bike on the main street of Winter River after having acquired a few pieces of photographic equipment and some film for a new project she was working at school. It was the middle of October and it had ben almost four years since the wedding incident with Beetlejuice.

A few clouds were obscuring the evening sky and she was approaching her house in the hill. When she reached the garage, Lydia secured her bike and took the equipment with her. She went to the porch and opened the door. Once inside the house, she looked around to see whether anyone was there, and to her surprise, neither her parents, nor the Maitlands were to be found.

She became more relieved, as she recalled both Charles and Delia telling her a few days ago that they won't be home until tomorrow, as they had to go downtown for a important business deal, and the Maitlands had left yesterday to meet with Juno and figure out a few ways to manoeuver through the necessary paperwork that may eventually grant them an early release from their haunting requirements.

She settled the film and equipment on the table where she usually put the paints for Adam's model and thought that she needed a few hours sleep after all she had been through this last week, with exams and all.

She went up to her bedroom and took off her school jacket and shoes, leaving only her white shirt and the rest of her attire on. She placed her jacket on an empty chair and the shoes near it.

She decided that a short visit to the attic wasn't a bad idea, even if it get her dark blue shocks dirty by stepping on the dust-covered floor of the room. She went up the stairs towards the attic door and found it slightly opened. Without any second thought about it or whether the door was already left open for a few days, Lydia entered the room and she couldn't help the fact that the model town was improving by the time and patience Adam showed in the last years, as he took it upon himself to finish this with many of the new additions that were made to the area during this period.

She only wished they could have been here for today, instead of being in that caseworker's office, and talk about any of the plans they were arranging for the next week.

* * *

His predicament went on for a few more minutes, after which he felt he could stand up and try to explain to himself how could all of this happen to him. Before he could say something, Beetlejuice turn around and to his surprise, in the place of the door stood a bright red orb. It was getting closer and closer by the minute, but he didn't move from his place and shield himself with both arms from the impending impact with the glowing sphere.

Strangely enough, the red orb went through him like smoke and it quickly vanished into nothingness in a matter of seconds, leaving him once again in the darkened enviroment. When he saw that the danger was over, he went to touch his head and he quickly noticed that his head was restored to its original state. After ensuring himself that it wasn't an illusion, Beetlejuice tried not to show his excitement or relief in a more obvious way than it was, lest the force that provoked these strange events try to taunt him even further. He wasn't sure who or what was causing it, but he knew that Juno couldn't be behind all this.

He had learned a lot from Juno during his time as her assistant, and one of them was the fact that she could never pull off something as elaborate and weird for effect like this one. She was never one to pass the time taunting her enemies with cheap parlour tricks, or even toy them with shape-shifting rooms without leaving some hints or clues that will give away any sign of her power or involvement into these kinds of traps.

Still, he had to give credit to the one who was able to lure him into this trap in the first place. It wouldn't help him, of course, to find a way out of here real quick, but he was grateful for the fact that he was spared from all the fuss and lunacy that filled the waiting room for quite some time.

He tried to figure out which direction he should be headed, and it didn't take him another minute or two to know that there was no wait out, all right, and he would never get out of this new hell hole. And that's when he heard a noise.

And not just any noises, but the noise of a ball being thrown to the ground again and again, followed by a childish giggle. He turned his head to the right and spotted the source of the disturbance. A person who appeared to be a young female, covered head to toe in a white robe, completed with white boots and white hood, was playing with a ball that was also white. She didn't seem to mind any of his movements, but Beetlejuice tried his best to strike a conversation with her.

''Hey, kid. Yeah, yeah, I mean you kiddo. Would you tell me what the hell is going on?'', Beetlejuice exclaimed, with a sense of wariness in his voice.

The girl then stopped its giggling and playing with the ball and turn herself to face him. What Beetlejuice saw took him by surprise, as if a wall of bricks was thrown right to him and didn't know how he could react in a moment like this one. She didn't remove the hood, but her face was more visible and a few strands of brown hair were cascading her chest. The most striking feature of this person was a cut in her throat. She looked up at him with her blue eyes, as if she was judging for some unspeakable crime that she could never forgive him for.

''Your time has come. Wait until you see my sister.'' And with that, she vanished into thin air, leaving to fall to the floor and roll a little towards his direction. Beetlejuice picked it up, and he immediately felt like it was getting heated up for some reason. It even changed to an orange color and he couldn't hold any longer.

After giving out a loud scream of pain, he let it fall and it roll again. It went on and on into the until he couldn't see the damn thing, and it was gone. He was about to turn to his left and walk away, and then the same bright red orb appeared in front of him.

He stood dead on his tracks, and waited what this damn thing that was floating in mid air was up to now. He was thinking about it as if it was alive and willing to baffle and torture him even more than before.

His eyes were locked on the glowing sphere and he felt as if he was about to lose himself in the mesmerizing sight, and that's when he he heard another voice, the voice of an elderly woman.

''Well, well, you really think you could get way from me, do you?''

The poltergeist turn his head in all directions and he still couldn't pin down the source of that voice. Without showing any signs of panic, he retorted, ''Whoever the hell you are, lady, you won't get anything from me. I don't know what kind of shit you wanna pull with me, but it ain't working. And I am really not in the mood to play with you. So you either go to the room you came from, or I'll...''

''You think I came from one of those dreaded rooms and places, or that I am working for your former employer, the caseworker known as Juno?'', the voice asked, sending a bit of shiver in Beetlejuice's gut, sort to speak. How this thing could know about his ties and history with the caseworker, unless she was somebody from his past, someone he had forgotten about a long time ago?

After pondering on this thought for a few seconds, he decided it was best to keep talking with it until he knew what sort of being he was dealing with.

''What I have with the old hag is none of your damn business. Show yourself and get the hell on with it, because I am not gonna spill my fucking guts to you, or any of your friends and relatives you send to me for your own sick and demented idea of pleaus...''

''I am making it my business as of now, and what you will hear may even ruin any kind of belief you ever had in your life, or afterlife for that matter. But don't worry, I won't bother you with this tonight. I came here to warn you and, in a way, teach you a lesson regarding the nature of your antics and revenge schemes that fill your mind and poison your thoughts.'', the voice continued.

He noticed that the ball was starting to glow into the same bright shade or red he saw earlier and he was about to say to this other old hag that she could go stuff her advice up her ass and leave him alone, for all that he cared. If he would spend the rest of the afterlife inside the darkness of this prison, the one thing he would have appreciated at the very least was not sit here and listen to some voice smiting his face with all the mistakes of his time as a living, breathing person. He could get without pretending to go to sleep with the life he led recited to him as a bedtime story.

Unturned by his intentions or what he was ready to say, the voice carried on what seemed to be more of a inner monologue than a real conversation, ''I suppose it won't make matters that different, but something inside of me tells me that you are not a hopeless case as my sisters tell me, after all. Neither you, nor the little girl you tried to marry, that is.''

Now things were getting more complicated than they were before. How she knew about Lydia, or what happened during that night? He needed some straight answers, and there was only one way to get them. He had to cooperate and play along with the entity's little game of charades if there was a slim chance of getting some information on her and the family of wackos that surrounded her.

''All right, how did you know all this? Wh-who are you, and what do you want with me?'', the poltergeist said. ''Okay, look. If you could show me your face and talk to me in person, because I have a problem with just hearing disembodied voices, then, and only then, will I be more open and less hostile like I am now. If you are not up to it, you better take a hike and never try to bother me again, 'cause I won't break my fucking hide for you or anyone in this place. You understand?''

No reply came, and the room was filled with a rather uncomfortable silence, as the sphere was the only thing that illuminated the room. It was glowing for one time to red and then to orange, and then back to red, with the whole being repeated for what seemed to be five minutes, but for Beetlejuice it felt like an eternity where time and life itself stood still and the place was devoid of any color, emotion or activity that could brighten it up.

He noticed that the sphere was starting to fade out a bit as time went on and it looked as if it was shrinking to the size of a ball. And the voice that wouldn't be silenced for a minute took a heavy sigh and after some instants it carried on for one final time.

''I suppose it's only right if I indulge that little wish of yours and tell you a bit of my history as well. However, the picture that I am about to paint it's not going to be that easy to swallow, Beetlejuice, but you have to believe what I am about to show you. Things like the course your afterlife might take if you leave this room tonight, the impact your choices will have on the lives of certain people you want to avenge, the deaths you may cause and the futility of your actions, but I will expand on this issue in a few minutes if you can wait. I wanted to take a good look at you and see if it was safe for me to take on my actual form. I am really sorry I had to put you through this, but I had to be sure it was you all right, and not some other hot-shot bio-excorcist who wouldn't know how to react in these kinds of situations like you did. All right now, enough fooling around and more action.''

And with that last sentence, the ball was reduced to the size of a baseball one, and the person behind that voice slowly came into view.

She was a redhead woman dressed in a black coat, a black skirt, and only a white shirt was what stood out from this ensemble. Her ginger hair were reaching her shoulders and when she came closer, she picked the floating ball and put it in her coat's left pocket. She had a lighted cigarette in her other hand, and physically she was more attractive and slightly younger, though still an older woman. She also had a sliced throat where puffs of smoke came through, but she didn't put her cigarette back to her mouth until her blue eyes met his. After exhaling some smoke, she came a little closer to his direction and stopped, with a smile on her face. If this was Juno, he would have told her to get the hell out and leave him alone, but he felt that he should better keep his mouth shut and try to learn more about this lady if he wanted to get this over with.

''Hello, Beetlejuice.'', said the older woman. ''I'm Clotho, and I am more than happy to meet you in person as well, after all this time. I have an offer that you may be interested to hear and perhaps you won't refuse to take it. But before I get to it, I have to tell you some of the most bizarre and outlandish things you may have heard in all of your days in the afterlife. Give me your undivided attention, your audience, or whatever you want to call it and I won't bother you again. Deal?''

She placed her left hand out and waited for his response. It took some seconds to register in his mind what could this mean to him, and without giving more time to himself for second thoughts or a doubt, he reached his right hand out and shook hers. He rolled his eyes and after breathing heavily, he responded.

''Deal.''


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 2

When he reached out to shake hands with this woman, Beetlejuice couldn't help but let his lips curve into a smile. Whoever she was, she probably didn't have a clue over what really happens when his name is called three times. He only had to wait for her to say it one more time and he would be out of here before she even noticed he was gone. His thoughts, however, were interrupted when he felt something with his hand. When he took it out of her hand and brought it a little close to his face, he was confronted with a sight that took him by complete surprise and left him baffled and dumbfounded at what he was looking at for a minute or two. He could even move from his place when he was met with a sight like that.

His right hand was miraculously brought back life, completely restored to its previous mortal state. No longer nay form of moss or green spots were to be found in there, his fingers didn't have that pale shade of red on their tips, and the nails were not crooked or broken anymore. He turned it around a few times until he was convinced that it was not some cheap illusion. He was certain it was the real thing, as he felt it warm and he could even feel something like blood circulating through it, giving him the impression that it was alive again.

The confused poltergeist rolled its eyes momentarily, and after drawing a heavy sign, he opened them again to see the now silent redhead still standing in front of him, who all this time was smoking from her cigarette and watched what was going on before her with smiling lips.

''What the hell was that for, bitch? You wanna get me on my damn nerves all the way, or you just keep on playing around for the sake of that sick game of yours? What the fuck is that all about?'', Beetlejuice exclaimed angrily.

She went to her right and started walking around him while letting small puffs of smoke coming out of her sliced throat. After the last brag, she carried on.

''Well, it was really just my way of getting the kind of attention I wanted out of you, Beetlejuice. And don't have any hopes that saying your name three times will get you of there, because it won't happen. You see, this name thing doesn't really apply in here, as opposed to the outside world, though there are other rules that we have to abide while in here, if you wish to go ahead, that is.'', the woman named Clotho said with a somewhat serious look on her face.

Still rooted to his place, not knowing how he should react, the poltergeist moved his head from the odd woman to his hand again, which he momentarily curled into a fist just for the sake of seeing the vein look alive under the pressure of the muscles surrounding it.

For her part, Clotho stopped going around him in circles and ended up on the left hand side of his head. Beetlejuice didn't really bother to look at her, as he was more focused on watching his now alive hand move and wiggle his normal-looking fingers.

She remained silent and after some deep thinking, she threw her cigarette at his head to see if he would turn around to meet her gaze. Once she saw that he hadn't even flinched from the contact of the lighted object, she pulled another pack from her left pocket and while she was trying to light her next cigar, she went on another ranting.

''If this little miracle proves to be a minor distraction, then perhaps we should stop fooling around for good, and move on because I have one hell of a tight schedule to keep in here. Off with you.'', Clotho said gesturing to the alive hand and Beetlejuice could see that it was slowly fading into the form it really was. The process was a bit slow, but the hand was fully restored to its original afterlife state in a matter of seconds.

Not amused for being forced to come back to the reality of his situation, the poltergeist turned its head to meet with the patiently waiting redhead who had finally managed to light another cigarette, letting more puffs of smoke coming from the cut in her throat, with each drag she took. She then rolled her eyes, and when she opened them again, another smile appeared on her lips.

''All right, I was a bit hard on you , but like I said, I really needed to be sure that it was and you would react pretty much the way I thought you will. As to how I knew you all along and why what I am about to show tonight still have a special amount of significance about your life's course after you little antics at the old Maitland home, as well as how could I know the living person that you tried to marry in the first place, will all be explained in a few moments, if you tried to listen to me.''

Beetlejuice remained quiet the whole time he was hearing all this ranting, with a confused look still perplexed in his face. Still, the old redhead decided to carry on her speech.

''And no, I don't mind any foul language or any cursing that you can throw me at me, but you better listen and listen well to all the possibilities that lay before you in fragments that...'', Clotho ceased her ranting when she became aware that he obviously still hadn't the slightest clue what she was trying to convey to him.

''All right, all right, look. I know this might be new for you and that I tend to get a little repetitive sometimes, when I speak, but I'm not sure how more simpler I can make it for you. That's how I normally work with all the affairs that I had. Maybe if we drifted this conversation into recounting a few details about my history with the afterlife system, as I mentioned a while ago, perhaps you'll have a different perspective on the role I have and lent me your ears after feeling more comfortable with me. I'd enjoy a real company other than my sisters and associates. But first...'', and with that, Clotho turned herself in the direction of the black horizon that surrounded the both of them and gesturing both hands in the air,something started to take form in front of them.

A few minutes passed and before them stood a white door. The old redhead paused for some time and when the door was fully materialized, she then turned to face he weary poltergeist, who didn't hesitate to show how bored he had become of this whole trick she tried to pull off.

''Oh, don't look tired now, old boy. The show is about to start.'' said Clotho, in a faint attempt to convey some of her enthusiasm to him. Beetlejuice only gave her a look that said how much e hated the whole damn process they were in.

With a heavy sign and a roll of her eyes, she continued.

''Now, while I'm going at the backstage, sort to speak, to freshen up and get ready for my big entrance, you go right ahead and see what's behind that door for you. I'd have liked to join you, but I have one other thing I need to prepare before I show up in here. Once inside, make yourself at home and I'll meet you there, okay?''

He reluctantly nodded his head and she let her lighted cigarette fall into the floor, restricting her comments to one word.

''Good.''

That was when she paused for a longer period, putting both hands inside her pockets and her head fell a little, staring down to her feet. It didn't take long for Beetlejuice to remark to himself that the short minx was lying to him all along and that the joke's gonna be on him once he opened that door. Even though he tried his best to persuade himself that today he had his full of surprises and that he should stay away from it, some inner voice told him that a little adventure never hurt anyone so what's the harm if he played along and indulged this senile, yet more attractive, open-minded and understanding than Juno, person's wish if he wanted to get her out of his way for good.

His train of thought came to an end when Clotho said rather loudly, ''Well, time to move on. You'll know what you're looking for when you see it. Just make sure you know your lines or any question that may come to mind and I will try to answer accordingly. My only advice would be to try ask the right question if you want to hear any answer, or you will get no answer at all, if you insist on going on that wrong route, that is.''

''And how the hell am I supposed to know what's right and wrong in your terms?'', Beetlejuice retorted.

Clotho gave him one last look before turning her back to him and start walking towards the blackened horizon.

''Or how am I gonna call you up if I need any help for that matter? What do you think I should do if any weird shit hap..''

He didn't get any chance to finish his last sentence when she vanished without a trace in flurry of grey smoke, without a cigarette in hand the way Juno would normally do if she wanted to fade in thin air.

Beetlejuice was left on his own and he hated the silence that seemed to permeate the entire room once again, even though he was grateful that he escaped the fuss and constant chatting that went in that crowded waiting room. Knowing that he would regret this the minute he was in, he nevertheless reached towards the doorknob and after giving it a good handle and some turns, it opened, only to reveal what appeared to be a basement. It was almost as pitch black as the room he was still inside, but without any second thoughts, Beetlejuice entered the room and closed the door behind him.

* * *

Lydia was sitting next to the model for what seemed to be a few hours, enjoying the silence in the room and having the sunset from the attic window. She stayed there because she enjoyed the feeling of running her fingers through the miniature streets and corners of the Winter River model. She also enjoyed how detailed the little plastic people seemed to be, and her eye caught sight of a peculiar item.

What appeared to be a little figurine covered in a white robe and boots had somehow come to life and moved on its own. She didn't know if this was a good sign, or some new trick Adam has perfected in making the model denizens come to life temporarily, but her curiosity got the best of her and reached in to grab the figure that was now moving towards the old Maitland hardware store.

She brought it a little close to her face and tried to get a good look at the figure. The item appeared to be a young female that had a pale face and black rings circling her eyes. Once the little person saw her reflection in the girl's brown orb, she used a miniature needle to pin her in her index figure.

''Ahhhh!'', Lydia screamed in pain, as the little figure plummeted back into the street and started running towards the hill that the Maitland house rested and hoped that the teenager didn't have the chance to see where she was headed.

Fortunately for the little figure, Lydia was checking her finger to see if any blood came out of it. Sure enough, a little bit of blood came out of the miniature wound and she used her tongue to lick the spot where she was pinched. It wasn't painful or significant to worry about, but why would the tiny person try to retaliate in that manner when she didn't explain to her that she didn't any harm at all. She only needed some answers, that's all. Even if it was a piece of plastic that pretended to be a breathing and moving like any normal person would have, she would still have the ability to talk and articulate in words what she really was. But then again, normal was never what the raven-haired girl was really acquainted with in her short lifetime.

While she was trying to think what the hell was going on, the familiar green light and aura started to appear from the wall where the Maitlands had drawn a doorway when they needed the assistance and help to deal with her family when they first moved in here, all those years ago.

She could only stare at it, with her mouth open again, as she did when she only fourteen. The wall finally opened and before her was the black horizon that was only illuminated by that green light, just like Barbara told her, and she started to hear footsteps. If it wasn't Beetlejuice, then who the hell it was?

She had a feeling that she would have her answers soon, when a old woman with red hair and blue eyes entered the scene, with the familiar black coat and cigarette in hand, and a smile slowly curling in her face.

''It's time, dear. It's time to hear the true story of your life, Miss Deetz", the lady that introduced herself to Beetlejuice as Clotho said to a confused and slightly terrified Lydia.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 3

By the time Beetlejuice closed the door, he wasn't sure what he should expect next, but he had a feeling that he was going to regret it a lot more sooner than he thought a while ago. The room he now entered was still pitch-black, and he waited for any kind of sign that could show him his way out of it. It wasn't really him to go along with some bitch he barely even knew and follow that little scheme of hers, but he wanted all of this torture to over and be left alone in some corner, pondering what could actually make his afterlife worth to keep him going.

Before he could make another move, he was temporarily blinded by a ray of light that went through his direction for a second. But when he opened his eyes again, the poltergeist was taken by complete surprise at the sudden change of his surrounding enviroment. He looked at what appeared to be the basement of a house that was illuminated by the afternoon sun, and he could see the place was lit up by the few shafts of light that were going through some old floorboards that were nailed in the already existing wooden wall to cover a damage the owner of this house couldn't afford for whatever reason. Not that he was very interest in knowing who the occupant was, for the moment.

Still, whatever stunt this Clotho character was trying to pull, he had to admit to himself that she did a hell of a good job compared to all the psychological warfare and harassment he could get from a senile old hag like Juno. However, as much as he enjoyed her little mindfuck, he needed to find a way out.

The hard thing was he wasn't sure any long if he could get any living person to call his name three times and get back to the one place it all stated, the pathetic excuse of a waiting room he wanted so bad to get out in the first place.

Not in the mood to think too much about it, let alone the few choices he had, which weren't many, he decided to sit to one of the stay chairs that he spotted in the middle of that room and wait till night has fallen, and then go to explore the house the redhead woman had sent him to. He could either pretend to go sleeping, or wait there full awake and ready to go out. If it was the later, the closer thing to a companion he could get would be memories.

Though what memories would be? Memories of an unspectacular mortal life that was ended in an equally unspectacular manner six hundred years ago, or the last memory of how close he was to be totally free from the afterlife that limited him as far as he could remember by marrying this breathing teenager?

He seriously doubted the little minx had wanted to keep her part of the bargain, but he would make sure to pay a visit to her once he got thought all the antics and petty stunts the old woman threw at him. He only had to wait for some time, so that he could grab the opportunity and carry on with any plan he could come up to force Lydia to seal up their deal, even if it involved going a bit down the line to show all the consequences of her actions from now.

With not any mood to keep his train of thought going, the poltergeist proceeded to sit in one of the stray chairs in the middle. It was homely and old-fashioned, and the top of it was covered with some sort of white table-cloth. Beetlejuice realized by a mere glance at it that it was just one of the many objects that he now noticed to be discarded around the place, giving him the impression that the occupants of the house weren't the standard ''happy homemaker'' type of people like that Maitland couple was. Probably they wouldn't mind any stain that he left in that old table-cloth, so he tried to feel comfortable while siting his ass on it, crossing his hands and leaning his head slightly towards into the empty space between him and the only door that could lead him out.

Even though he thought it was rather uncharacteristic for him to wait and miss all the action that could go on upstairs, and maybe a chance to have a bit of fun scaring the hell of these people, the poltergeist just waited there and decided it was best to buy his time with a trip through memory lane. He recalled that last one bit where Clotho told him that she will let him know when the time comes, or something like that.

The dead were not known to have any need for sleep, but the waiting has taken its toll and Beetlejuice got tired of watching the space that separated him from his only exit, making him feel rather exhausted and without further noticing it, the poltergeist was slowly drifting into a serene sleep.

Little did this poltergeist knew that if he were to dream, it wouldn't be the dreams that he wanted to see, but a vision of what happens after tonight may be, just like Clotho warned him. The only remarkable thing was that he wasn't snoring or making any obnoxious sleeping sounds, just his non-existant lungs breathing the air in and out, now that Beetlejuice, the once proclaimed ''Ghost with the Most'', had actually come to settle with a feeling he thought he lost completely once he died, which was the simple need to rest with an afternoon sleep. And that's all the man needed right now.

* * *

Lydia was still trembling by what the old woman had said a moment ago. What the hell did she mean by what she just heard about her life? Was there really another version, anything that is more ''truer'' than the seemingly now happy existence she led? She knew for fact that if she didn't ask the person in front of her now, she probably wouldn't get the kind of answer that she wanted to hear.

''All right, I don't know who you are or what you want, but if you come any closer, I'll..''

''Or what, little girl? Your surrogate parents, the Maitlands will come to your rescue, or that I am gonna leave you with no option that you'll be forced to call out the one person you hate to get you out a moment earlier from the day of your reckoning, huh?'', Clotho interrupted, puffing more smoke out of her sliced throat, obviously not liking how Lydia attempted to approach her, and it definitely wasn't working on her.

''And don't worry about him or any of the perversion acts he could try on you, because I've already dealt with him nice and neat, just like I am about to do to you.''

With that last statement, Clotho moved further in the direction of the raven-haired teenager, until there was no room for Lydia and her back pushed against the wall. The old woman then kept a distance from the girl, picking up from where she left off, eyeing her rather mercilessly with her blue orbs.

''If you wonder who I am, well, it will be a bit hard for your young brain to conceivably comprehend, but no, I'm not the old caseworker named Juno, the person I assumed those Maitlands have told you in great detail before their departure, am I right?''

Lydia only nodded, trying to hold back any tears that were forming at the mention of the only people she considered both as friends and real parents. Once Clotho noticed the few bits of salty water that were threatening to fall at any minute, he rolled her eyes and tried to sound as motherly as she possibly could, though she failed miserably at that.

''I'm sorry for bringing this up, but I don't know how am I supposed to do business with you, when a lot of things are at a stake, and a part of you is the ''murderer'', too. So if you want to co-operate with me, fine. But tell me how are we going to make it easier for both of us and get on with what I am about to show you ton...''

''What the hell is so important to tell me when you know that I am not in the mood to play any of your damned silly games of yours? If you want a suggestion, you could go to whatever bureaucratic hell hole you came from, be it Juno's desk, or wherever you belong. And next time, try to invade the illusions of some other girl and mind your own fucking business, huh? What do you say to that, you weird excuse of a witch hag?'', Lydia yelled with all of her might to her, trying to get Clotho to leave her alone.

Clotho, for her own part, didn't say a word and dragged on her cigarette, in a vain attempt to find the right words for moments like that. She though it best to let the adolescent girl to continue her own ranting, whether or not she was aware of the fact that it wouldn't help her one bit from evading what was inevitable fo her to happen.

''Don't get me wrong, lady, but if I'm not horribly mistaken, it was your kind, really, who'd taken Adam and Barbara Maitland away from me, away from my live. Yeah, I could move on and pretend that it didn't happen, but it's not easy for me without them. Sure, I have made a few friends out of that school I am going to, but it would be nice if you could have given me more time with them. Is it more to ask from you, people, more to...well, I don't know, though you could have...you know...given me...given me a break?'', the raven-haired teenager now said in a rather calm way, after the hard yelling she had given to Clotho only a few seconds ago.

She didn't see any reason why should she cover this up, and she now let her tears fall freely and roll her cheeks. When they rolled down her porcelain skin, they glistened in the moonlight that was slowly coming into the night sky.

The old woman didn't say anything for a while, and restrained herself to watching Lydia now sinking in behind the wall she was cornered, and covered her face in her arms that were resting in her knees, sobbing a bit louder than before. It took a few minutes, but her sobbing was ceased and she tried to raise her head to see if Clotho would get tired of her and go away. Unfortunately for her, she was still standing in the same place, only leaning her head closer to take a good look at the girl's face. She could see that the girl was tired of crying anymore and there was a hint of determination now in her face that made her believe that there was still a chance to make her co-operate after all.

''Promise me that it could suddenly end at any time, and I may give it another thought. In the meantime, why don't you tell me who you are, really. What did you try to tell by me being part of a ''murderer?'', Lydia responded, reassuring herself that perhaps the old hag didn't have any clue about the Maitlands, no mater how hard she tried to seem as if she knew something about them, but she didn't, for all she could tell.

Cloth was a little apprehensive for a while, but after Lydia stood to her feet, she let a heavy sigh and when she unrolled her eyes, she looked up at her to find any hostile sign that could ruin any of her intended plans. Once she saw that Lydia, despite the uneasiness and untamed nature she showed minutes ago, was somewhat more open to take this all in, she started talking again.

''I am not sure how much should I give away about me, but I could at least let you in at this. My name is Clotho, and the little figure you scared out of its wits happened to be my younger sister, Atropos. Or was it Lachesis? Anyway, I can hardly keep track of them as it is. You wouldn't really want to have a kid sister running around you all the time, would you?'', Clotho said, a little smile forming in her lips, as though she tried to laugh at a private joke of hers.

Lydia was left with a confused look on her face when she mentioned that model incident before her entrance.

''Well, would you?'', Clotho repeated in the hopes of getting an answer this time.

Once Lydia realized that she was still staring at her, she tried her best to look as if she paid attention to her little comment and tried to answer as straight and direct as she could, though it was somehow even harder for her to find the right words at the right time.

''I,I, well, I didn't know who or what it was. I thought it was one of Adam's tricks to get his model figures to look alive and breathing, but not like this, to be honest with you. How did you get them to be so small, by the way?''

''I am not sure if you'll find interesting at all, but it all depends on where they enter something like that Winter River model, and I wished I could tell more about these tricks of ours, but we have a busy schedule to keep, so we better keep going.'', Clotho said, turning her back towards Lydia to walk in the direction of the portal that was widely shut fo all this time, only to start opening again, letting the green light and aura permeate the attic once again.

''Going where?'', Lydia asked.

''Only you can tell where you are supposed to be now, and I am just a guide. And for your information, sweetie, you'll always get the right answers if you start asking the right questions. And once you get to ask the wrong questions, don't expect to get any answer at all. Okay, will you come, now?'

Reluctantly, Lydia nodded and without further ado, she marched straight into the portal ahead of Clotho, not really caring whether she would catch up with her.

''Damn kids don't have any respect for anything these days. Got to teach her a lesson in vulnerability.'', Clotho said to herself, rolling her eyes and snapping her fingers in where Lydia was now in the black horizon.

Once in there, she noticed a change in her clothing. She was no longer wearing her remaining school clothes, but the clothes she was wearing when she first spotted the Maitlands from that attic window when her family first moved in, which was also the day she discovered the handbook. She was also wearing the very hat that covered her head from all that sunlight that same day.

She had no idea those would still fit her after all this time, but she was feeling like home now that Clotho put them on her. On her left hand she felt like she was holding a heavy object, and when she turned it to her face to inspect it, to her surprise, she saw it her old Nikon camera and there still some film left inside, though she couldn't really recall the last time she used it after the incident.

She was about to test it, when the voice of Clotho boomed in from behind.

''I knew you'd feel like your true self if I coaxed you into what you refer to as ''the other side'', by giving you back your true colors. Maybe you will be more willing to listen to me now that I made you ready for your last trip in the mysteries of your life.''

By the time she finished her last sentence, Clotho ended up right next to her, both females illuminated by the green glow.

''Still, a change in scenery should be what we need to see now, huh, sweetheart?'', Clotho asked, only to see a not-so interested Lydia staring into the endless void with not any real expression to her face, whatsoever.

Not bothering to make her talk for the present, the old redhead gestured her right hand up and the green light was replaced by an ethereal smoke that covered their ankles and allowed some form of natural lighting to illuminate them as if they were outside to take walk at the park on a sunny day, though it didn't have any blinding effect on them.

''Oh, by the way, I gave you a close replication of that old camera you had, if you want to take some pictures, but it won't be for souvenir reasons, no. The purpose of taking pictures in this last trip may be to get a series of images from your current lifetime, but if you feel uncomfortable with that, there are other methods towards this end.''

When Lydia heard that she probably didn't need the Nikon camera with her, she left her object fall next to her, as if she felt a burning sensation going through her hand. Instead of hearing it shattered into million pieces and bits of shreds, as it would normally happen, the photographic equipment was mysteriously vanished in the smoke and continued to fell as if the ground at her feet would be like a quicksand for it.

''Sometimes we have to give up the things we hold dear, or helped us form a perspective for our live up until a certain point.'', Clotho responded, turning her head to her right to see a Lydia Deetz that was somewhat saddened at the loss of the only ''friend'' she had before her new life in Winter River, namely the lenses of the camera that would help her create her own sense of reality, even if the images that came out would be still and unmoving in their frames.

''I'm sorry about that, Lydia, but in the end, you have to ''unlearn'' in order for you to start learning how to live again. And to do that right, you really have to stop thinking in terms of how you once saw the world. You can't always keep all these emotions hauled up in you forever.''

Lydia didn't respond to the older woman's comment, only giving her a look that said how exposed and naked she felt now that the few mental walls and barriers that surrounded her almost her whole life were beginning to fall apart, one by one. She didn't know what the feeling was, but she felt the need to start crying again, and she left a few bits of tears fall over her cheeks once again.

''Now, now, young girl. Crying won't help you a bit. I just wanted to make you see what you were trying to avoid, not make you feel miserable. I am not here to say what could make you feel healthier in your mind, but it's time you saw the errors of your ways, and why it was you who caused yourself to feel ''utterly alone'' at one time.'', Clotho said in an affectionate tone, though it didn't move Lydia one bit.

''Well, you're wrong. I still feel so lost and alone without it, and I don't really know what's the right thing to do now.'', Lydia said in between her new sobbings, trying to wipe her new tears that were staining her pretty face of hers.

''It's like I can't really go back to...Hell, I am not even sure how am I supposed to take all this. You mean that by acting that way, I'm condemned to repeat that no matter what I do to stop it? What can I do for it? Is it really too late, or there's still hope that I cou...''

Clotho raised her hand as a way to make the girl stop her line of questioning, and with a smile forming in her lips, she responded.

''I know I am gonna have to make a divergence from the route I planned for you, but would you like to get a few glimpses of the life you held up to that point and the people you never got to meet in person, because one misfortune led to another? If you think it's a complete waste of time, I could carry on as scheduled so that we don't miss any of the details that you may have to see at some point or anoth...''

''No, no, I, I think that I could use some nice trip through the only good times I had in my life, but where do we really start?''

''Why don't we go ask, or better yet, see the one person you were looking for in your lifetime but never found it in anyone, like...your mother, perhaps?''

Lydia's heart was swelling with an unusual amount of joy at the mention of her mother, the mother she never really knew and whose image could perhaps help disperse the last clouds that were shrouding her mind for as far back as she could remember. She didn't know if she should trust her woman with a matter like this one, and yet she thought that there was nothing to lose if she tried to.

Wiping the last tears in her eyes and with a newfound confidence feeling the very essence of her darkroom-like existence, she let her mouth open to let the words she longed to say for what seemed to be an eternity to her.

''Take me to her. Please.''

''I am afraid I won't be able to take you to her in the present, but the past, well...that's another story. Let's go to it, shall we?''

And with a gesture of hands, the black void was slowly forming into what seemed to be a hospital room. Lydia couldn't believe as she saw the blackness giving away to let the interior of what appeared to be a hospital corridor. She could have sworn she heard a baby's crying, and she rushed through the long corridor to see where that sound was coming from, not caring whether Clotho would follow her. There wasn't anyone in the corridor, except a surgeon who she went right through him as though she was a ghost, but she didn't want to hear the explanation for this.

She searched for the sound until she could get to find the source of the noise. She stopped at a widely shut door, but thought it best to observe the scene from the glass window next to the door. The sight of what was inside that room caught her by complete surprise, when she saw a brunette woman holding what seemed to be her baby. At close inspection, she could notice that this was a baby girl and had a tuck of brown hair in her head. A bracelet was in the left hand of the baby and the name in the collar was as following.

_''Lydia Deetz''_

Now she was sure. Now she was convinced that her only real wish in the world had come true at last. She only let a few words escape her lips, as her hands pressed against the glass, her hat falling behind her to the floor.

''Mom!? Mom, is that you? Mom!?'', Lydia asked to herself more as a whisper and not towards her.

And she started crying again, but those were tears of joy, because she was able to get a glimpse of what the person who gave birth to her, the woman who brought her to the world, was like. And she would make sure that this time she will get to know her better than she was allowed to. If only that was true, but the real lesson was about to start for her.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 4

Lydia was still standing in her spot behind the glass menagerie, wanting to savor the moment for herself, almost oblivious to what was going around her or who went past her.

She couldn't believe that she was given a chance to see the one person she felt fate had so unfairly taken away from her. Seeing he person in front of her, made her think that her father's words of how she once looked paled in comparison to the real thing. Evelyn Deetz, the true mother of Lydia, was all of what she heard and more. The tears had ceased after a few minutes and she no longer touched he glass window, after she decided hat she had enough of her.

A logical side of her tried to remind her why she was here and what she had just given up for, but another aspect did battle with her rationale in an effort to persuade the teenager to stay a little longer.

And as she was about to turn he head to the right and see where Clotho was he whole time, she was taken back bu another surprise tha left her mouth open. A youthful version of Charles Deetz that had a mustache and didn't look a bit like the nervous wreck he was when they first moved to Winter River, rather a man who was confident of himself and thought that with a lot of effort and perseverance, one could still make it in the world.

He was wearing light brown ants, a sweater and he opened the door hat led to he room where his wife and her newborn baby were in. Closing the door behind him, he was greeted by the smile of his wife and he stood beside her to take a good look at her daughter.

Fo a second Lydia thought that she could the couple's dialogue and she hed the following:

"Well, how's the kid, Eve? I'm sorry that I wasn't here yesterday, but something important came up and I had to check out the things that went down in that Lower Manhattan I told you about the other day. Only hope I didn't miss anything important, did I?'', the blond man asked.

''It's okay Charles. I knew you had to be there, and I am glad that you could make it after all thee days ago to witness the birth of your little girl. Isn't our little angel so cute, so sweet?'', the brunette woman replied to Charles, who leaned his head to take a good look at their baby girl.

''Ah, yeah, yeah, she is...and as a matter of fact, I don't think I saw a more beautiful in the whole nursery than our own. I really think that.''

''I guess you are right, Charlie. Absolutely right.'', Evelyn said, a smile forming in her lips, turning her head to see the sleeping form of her infant daughter. ''And something tells me hat you''ll keep these promises to me...and to her. Don't worry, hon. I think I am gonna make it.''

''You mean the stain the birth put into you? You sure ou don't want to call the doctor to check you up in case of a...'', Charles said, only to be interrupted by his wife.

''It's alright, Charlie, it's alight. Even if it does happen to me, I know that someone like you will look after my angel, no matter what.''

Not wanting to hear and see anything further than this, Lydia turns her back against the while wall and sinks in, her behind meeting the floor, not even in the mood to talk to anyone, after it dawned on her that she could do anything about it. History would resume its course and she will be stuck with Delia and Dad the way they are now. Thee can really be another existence where she's alive, or at least, something that could make her see life and the world in general under a new light.

She didn't even care to pick up he black hat, as she noticed that it wasn't scratched a bit, as the doctors, nurses and hospital personnel passed through it as though it was made of air.

She became once again lost in her thoughts, staring at the opposite end of the hall room, although the reality was that her mind was travelling through the endless possibilities and weaknesses of trying to repair her life, with or without her biological mother in the picture, but she didn't want to shed more tears over this.

As if she was on cue with the inner working of her thoughts, the mysterious woman only known as Clotho reappeared beside her, waiting for any sign or response the little girl would display. Thinking that the silence went on for a ridiculous amount of time, she thought it best to resume her talking from when they were still in the darkness moments ago.

''I really don't know now if you are distressed or maybe or you don't want to all to me after all this dram hat went in front of your own eyes. However, we have to continue with our search and see where you failures in this lifetime lie, before you are prepared for the next step in reincarn...''

''Can't you see that I am not in the mood for your riddles, Clotho lady? Only now I got into my head there is not a damned thing I can do to bring my mother back into my life, or somehow affect change in the course of my own history, because this is only a past recreated by, by someone's memory, right? Not an actual travel through time, but a recreation from some one else's memory. How did you...''

I'm afraid I had to search though the memory of your father so that I could recreate this place and no, I cannot travel through time. Even if I could do, nothing really good ever comes out of it. The only thing I could was to extract a memory of your Dad, a few friends, some of the staff that were there those days so that everything would be in place for the two of us to visit. I only did that so that I could earn your trust. You may not forgive me at the end of this, but that is my job as the last surviving Fate.''

Now the teenage girl's was somehow picked at the name the old woman chose to describe herself. Feeling a bit confident that she could face the person herself, Lydia slowly stood up and picked her hat along the way, putting it back to her head. With not any tears to blur her vision, and with a serious look in her face, she opened her mouth to ask, but Clotho was too quick to respond to that, happy to see that the girl was finally accepting her situation and thought it was only to oblige and help a bit with her curiosity.

"'In case you wonder what kind of ghost I am, well, we could say that I belong to a rare family of beings that for one time were really ruling people's fates and the destinies of countries and nations rested safely in our hands. The same, for a while, was true for the afterlife. I am not allowed to say more for the time being, but I could tell you this: me and my other two sisters are what in few mythologies of the world reffered to as ''the Fates.'' Have you ever studied Greek Mythology in that school of yours, even a tiny bit?''

Lydia tried to recall when it was the last time she ever heard of that term before, and she ended up remembering a time when a history teacher she had in her earlier days in New York made several references to it, but any real memory regarding that area really came from another time at Miss Shannon's' School for Girls, when their history teacher wanted to point out that there were some instances in ancient times where people couldn't really tell truth from myth, with one example being the myth about the sister of Alexander The Great being turned into a mermaid, asking the sailors she met if her brother returned home from his many adventures and expeditions beyond Asia Minor and Persia.

The legend was that if the sailors were to answer negatively and say that he died, the mermaid would attempt anything to sink their boats and ships to the bottom of the ocean, but if they said to her that he was still alive and well, despite of an infection that took his life at the age of 33, thus ending an astounding military career and the last great chance to unite the world by uniting two alien continents together, the mermaid would let them go their way and thanked them for giving hope that she'd be reunited with her brother once again, after all the time they were apart.

Trying not to mumble her words, Lydia did her best to relate to Clotho whatever she ever heard on that subject.

''I am not really sure, but I heard an awful lot about the Greeks and their mythology, and I, I remember a bit about the Gods and the Heroes they had, like, how their choices would affect the people around them, but only bits and pieces of stuff, not the actual myths.''

Clotho was not hesitating to show a bit of disappointment at the girl's answer and so she went to explain the thing herself as detailed as she best could.

''Shouldn't be surprised that modern folks don't give a damn about their heritage or the legacy the stories carried for more than a millennium, but we will try not to get too deep into that. Tell me, though, have you ever heard of the goddesses that controlled the destinies of both the Heroes and the Gods by spinning what they referred to as the ''Thread of Life'', and they would often try to veer the course of the mortal's lives when they felt that it was the best they could do to make sure that life and history will resume their own course. And they happened to be three sisters.''

Almost realizing where her answer was leading to, Lydia tried to process it in her head and exclaimed her speculation.

''Then what are you trying to see is that both you and the figure I touched in that model was one of your sisters, and you are the Fates, the ones of Greek legend?''

Clotho nodded her head, hoping that Lydia wouldn't say anything stupid about her revelation, but she hoped way too much for her own good as a little giggle escaped the raven-hired girl's lips, only covering her mouth when she remembered how rude this must have been for the redhead woman.

''Oh, God, I'm sorry, but I can't really believe any of this crap that you just said. For all I know, this could be one of the many tricks either Juno or Beetlejuice would do to impress me and fall for their antics, like any good prey with not enough brains would fall right into the ''mousetrap'' of any skilled predator. I mean, you are nothing like they described you in the books, where they show as this young girl, if I remember correctly from that one book I read for glass. Not the type of subject I was interested, but it was intriguing, in its own way.''

The woman was still standing and undisturbed by how Lydia saw all of this as one big joke, though she was slightly irritated by how oblivious this young person, like many of the girls her age, in spite of thinking that perhaps she was more smarter than them. It turned out that that wasn't the case at all, and made her mind to retain her calmness and explain certain aspects of her history to the teenage girl.

''The books, honey, at least the ones that got into your hand were not always trying to capture the true nature of our ''job'' and purpose, for lack of a better word, nor did they intend to enlighten the likes of you into the vast richness that our own stories had. But the reality is that I am not the Clotho of legend, but I borrowed her name when it was time for her to retire and thought she and her sisters wanted to live like normal humans, and feel what it was like to be a mortal being and die with the knowledge that someone else had thought that their time came from them to move on, and whatever mysteries they would encounter once there, that was their problem to deal with. In the end, only the original Clotho wanted to go through the process and she let her sisters aged a bit back to where she wanted them to be. Care to know the rest, dear?''

That was when Lydia fully realized the mistake she made and thought that maybe she shouldn't try to enrage her anymore than her last blunder. Following some serious pondering, she nodded her head and waited for the next storybook lecture that the older woman would be giving to her, in the hopes she will eventually get this thing done and be back home before her father and step-mother knew that she wasn't around.

By the time she reluctantly answered to Clotho about wanting to learn more about her, the surroundings once again changed to the utter blackness they had been moments before they entered the hospital emergency room.

'I think it best to have a proper change of scenery before I go on with my stories.'', Clotho commented upon the sudden change of their surrounding environment, waiting for the voice of the teenager to go straight through her ears, but after watching her with another layer of confusion spread across her features, she gave a heavy sign and attempted to be straight about this, regardless of the fact that Lydia might all the rest as part of an unusual joke, though she wouldn't tolerate her obliviousness to things anymore, and didn't hesitate to show that in her own words.

''The reason I am surprised to hear all that is not because that you don't have a clue, rather the fact the school system, let alone the entire educational system in America, had gone to hell, and instead of helping young people to know what it's out there, it actually more ''living dead'' whose sole purpose is to go and satisfy their own immature cravings rather than trying to see the beauty in stories and legends. Sure not all folklore is based on fact, but it would have been wonderful to see youngsters like you to have the urge to look at the stories that their ancestors once believed in; in fact, it reminds me of a old good saying that goes like, ''If you don't have your wealth, were are you.'' I have never been the model civilian, with my smoke and cigars, but I try, kiddo, and I try real hard to make a difference in the lives of million others, even at the cost of changing a life like yours.''

Now Lydia was left with so many questions instead of answers, and it was her turn to give Clotho a hint of her new found confusion with her last speech.

''What the fuck was all that about, lady? Why can't you just give me a straight answer, or why does those million other lives matter so much than my own?'', Lydia exclaimed, not seeing the anger that accumulated in Clotho's blue eyes.

'And I had enough of you, your nasty disposition and your mouth, girl. Maybe the best way to show things as they truly are is to give you a nice picture in your head on what life for you will be tomorrow night, with what your affair with him will be like.''

''What affair, you old bitch? And if you try something funny, I swear you are gonna regret the minute you entered my ro...'', Lydia's sentence was cut short when Cloth touched in her forehead with her right hand, now screaming as a new sensation flooded her vision and made her feel numb at the force that was coursing through her body.

The minute she opened her eyes, Lydia found herself again in the attic, still clothed with her black attire. Not wanting to waste her time, she rushed to open the door that lead to the staircase, only to be met by Clotho wearing a grey blue robe and a hood that partially covered her face.

''If you thought you'd be rid of me, dear, think again, because there's one last thing you need to see for yourself. Follow my lead, honey, and you'll be ready to enter your next plane of existence, a doorway for a new chance and a new lifetime, only if you keep my mouth shut and your eyes open, along with your ears to hear the sounds of the scene that is about to unfold...in a month from now. Okay?''

Lydia momentarily rolled her eyes and when she opened them again, she said the only thing that gets to her head in a situation like this, accepting the fact that it will be a bit difficult to be rid of Clotho for good if she didn't go along with her plan.

''Alright, lady, alright, I will play along, my Gosh, Just give me one moment, please.'', Lydia said, cathing her breath from the little running she gave to get to the attic door. Once she regained her breathing, she looked again at the older woman who eyed her with blue orbs that seemed to be filled with empathy and understanding for the girl, and yet they indicated how much of her anger she repressed and how threatening it looked like if it was left unchecked, and Lydia knew that she shouldn't make any screw-up this time, or she would buy the barn, for all that she cared. Without wasting another second, she cocked her head to her direction and said what she wanted to know how this whole affair would be over and be left alone before both of her parents came home.

''The truth, Miss Clotho, is that I want this to end so that I don't have to let my parents pick up a bone with me, having to explain that it had nothing to do with the wedding incident all this time ago. And you have to understand that I am around you for almost an hour and I still don't get where are you going with all this shit, so how about we start over and see where we can go from that, okay?'', Lydia retorted, waching Clotho still staying in her spot, her face showing that she was willing to listened whatever the youngster had in mind for her, as Lydia continued with her own overlong response.

''The whole point is, I don't need any of your complex riddles at all, just the basic facts you planned to tell me about, and you could, at the very least, let me think it over for a while, and I come back to you with, with a...a reasonable offer, if you try to sell me the idea that my life can be even better, or be improved from what I am going through at the moment, but I don't see what were you trying to achieve by making all these mentions to Greek Mythology, the way our schools work in the States, and so on and so forth. So, what do you say to that right now, Miss Clotho, and don't think I didn't have a good reason for yelling when you just going over in circles.''

Lydia waited to hear Clotho's answer to it, but she tried to wrap this up as best as she could when she saw her just standing there with the same expression in her features, looking like she was processing in her mind the best argument she could think of and not be embarrassed that a teenager could actually beat her in her own game.

''I am really sorry for letting those coming out of my mouth or jumping the gun at you, but I am really, really tired and I want to go to sleep and wake up in the morning with the knowledge that perhaps all this was...a nightmare. I don't say I know much about the kinds of subjects that you study in whatever library they have in the other side, or that you are probably a former caseworker who needs some serious help, a therapy, maybe. But don't worry, though, because I'll go with you all the way. And I'll go only if you promise me to get me back here and let me in peace. Is that much to ask of you?''

It took a good two minutes for the old redhead to make any movement, but once she was sure that Lydia Deetz was speaking from her heart in her own way, and that the goofiness she displayed at the old hospital room had somewhat disipitated, her lips curved to a smile and she removed her hood, revealing her shoulder-length ginger hair coming out, eyeing her less menacingly than before.

''Congratulations, Lydia, that's pretty much all I wanted to hear, and I promise it will be over much sooner than I expected, now that you want to work with me on this for real. Not quite sure you'll get back home the same person like you are now, but I could give you a way out of this life, but only if you want to. Only if you want to.''

Without wanting to say a word, Lydia silently nodded her head, and the redhead woman checked her with her blue eyes before commenting on her decision.

''Very good. Just be aware that this is going to be a long night. Will you come now, downstairs, I mean.

''Yes, yes, I will...even though I have a feeling that I'm not gonna like the things that I am about to see there.''

''You'll be the judge of that, dear, not me. In the meantime, though, while you are watching the scene that will unfold once we are there, I could give you an idea of what I originally planned for you. Any detail that I wasn't able to illustrate the best way I could regarding the nature of our job with the living should be a lot clear at the end of this journey. Come on, now, because we ain't got all night.''

And with that last sentence, Clotho slowly descended the stairs that would lead to the main living room, with Lydia following her without making any fuss or protest this time around.

Once they reached the door, Clotho gestured her right hand and staring speaking a few words that Lydia couldn't really understand the language of origin for what appeared to be some sort of a spell or a charm, as the door opened in a rather eerily manner, and when it was fully opened, all that Lydia could see was that it was early in the night and that the place was dominated by an uncomfortable silence, and her eye got something that made her spine shiver at the mere sight of it.

What appeared as letterings written in...blood were painted in one of the walls, and it read as following:

_''Hope your time in hell will be more rewarding than your shitty life in W.R. ever was. _

_At least you will get to know what the fuck I'd been through, hon, and you will be my one and only wife. Those Maitlands, your good buddies from the old times, won't be there for ya, kid._

_That's my promise, babes, and your folks should be careful, 'cause you are gonna be next if you try anything funny, and there ain't a damn thing you can do for her, so you better sit your ass down and watch the show... because there ain't gonna be more than two shows this night. Won't do it, and never will._

_With all my love, your little laughing husband from the hereafter itself,_

_Betelgeuse... _

_Betelgeuse..._

_Beetlejuice.''_

The black-haired girl really couldn't tell if this was the most horrible prank the poltergeist could have ever pulled to sick her deeply in her guts, or it was a fair warning that the next time their paths get crossed, it won't end well for her, her family and anyone in this house, maybe even the town.

''How could this bastard go to that point? It's not him, not really him to pull a stunt like this, could he?'', Lydia thought to herself, eyeing with her brown orbs the red lettering again and again, trying to figure out what is the real meaning behind these words. She was sure Beetlejuice could go totally berserk if pushed too far, and be totally imaprtial and indifferent of the consequences of his actions towards people, especially the living, which was really what frightened her the most at the moment.

''If you wonder if it's him, well, in a way, it is. But then again, it's only an image of what he'll become if something goes horribly wrong and not dealt with right away, and at the right place at the right time.'', Clotho said after watching Lydia clued to the letters and seeing how uncertain she was of the whole scene. Nevertheless, she continued with her explantion of the situation at hand, feeling uneasy over how much she should reveal to her without giving too much.

''Like I said, he is already dealt with, and both of my sisters and associates will look into his case soon enough. Our job tonight is to piece together where could everything go so wrong and perhaps a way to avoid the...punishment that will be imposed to the both of you, if you won't learn to make ammends and move forward, in any way that you can and see fit.''

Now having more difficulty to believe what she just heard, Lydia turned her head with a rather disgusted look and not looking as if she could agree with all of that.

''You really have to do some serious explaining, before I allow this asshole back into my life. How do you suppose things can get easier for the both of us, after a sick joke like the one in front of me, huh? Tell me.'', Lydia replied to her.

''I wouldn't presume to tell you how you can work things out with a greaseball excuse of a ghost like this one, but I want to believe there's still a chance and a way to make things right. I am aware you can't believe any of these things, you simply have to trust me. And before I will go any further than that, a little overview of our history will be the more insightful, what do you think?''

Following some serious pondering, and never really wanting her search for answers to go unnoticed or incomplete, she decided that finding the answers to what this Clotho woman really was could have been the best way to start.

''Yeah, sure, I wanna know all you could tell me about you. Don't forget, though, why I agreed to stay for the ride, okay?''

After hearing Lydia's acceptance of the way events had gotten to grow even sketchier and complicated than before, she looked the red words for herself as future refference, and then turned to the teenage girl to confirm what was going in her head at the moment.

''Itis just a short overview of what we had done to benefit mankind in both aspects of life here and the one beyond death. Keep in mind that life is sometimes able to become a interesting phenomenon to study and think about, an intricate jewel, if you will, that you humans only insist on viewing one edge at a time, when the whole design is visible in every facet. One can notice these differences after some time has passed and know where certain events can lead to without having to make constant referring to such things. Would you mind if I use several examples of you life from earliest memories and such? It will not take longer than a minute.''

''No, thanks, but I won't mind if it will be quick, but let's just get on with it, please.'', Lydia said with a hint of tiredness in her voice.

''Have patience, Lydia Deetz. You will find out. You will find out as everyone does, in the end.'', Clotho said before gesturing both hands to make the room go dark and have several images projected over a white clean wall, hoping that she will grab the girl's interest by the end of a session like this. She also worried whether her sisters will have trouble guiding Beetlejuice from the inner darkness that still consumed him, but only time will tell if they were worthy of something like that.

All she could was hope, and hope that things will go on as planned, and that the nightmare for both people will end before the night's out.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 5

Inside the basement of the house he ended up in, Beetlejuice continued to sleep, or at least he seemed to be sleeping, without noticing the passage of time around him.

As the sun was about to set in the horizon, the basement door was slowly opening to reveal two figures. They appeared to be feminine and once they entered the room, they quickly exchanged glances, but they were indiscernible under their hoods. The robes they wore were of different color, one light blue and one white.

The two young women then went on to sit in opposite directions, as if waiting for the prefect moment to strike on their prey. This particular prey, however, happened to be something beyond what people could call human, though it used to be one.

Not wanting to let silence completely fill the room, the one with the blue robe turned to the other girl's direction and asked what was in her mind, trying not to wake the poltergeist that was seated a few meters next to her.

''Well, what do you think of him, sis? Shouldn't we just wake the creep up and get this over with? I'm not in the mood of seeing him being more powerless than this. It almost makes me feel sad that I have to break in the bad news to him. Maybe we could, I don't know...give him a break?'', the girl with the blue robe asked her sister, removing her hood to reveal a young lady that seemed to be in her '20s, with shoulder-length brown framing her head, eyeing her nervously with her blue eyes.

The other woman didn't answer for a while, as if she was carefully thinking what she should say to her, fearing that she won't go along the plan Clotho assigned to them. With a heavy sign, the girl with the white robe took off her hood to reveal the face of someone who couldn't be past her late teens, with long brown hair caressing her back and she was staring back at her with her brown orbs, a smile starting to form in her lips.

''No, Lachesis, we have to stay put in here and tell him what is about to unfold. You wouldn't want our older sister become aware of the many times you tried to play with the Thread of Life itself, don't you? But rest assured, because when the time comes, you should be able to make more mature decisions over how mortal lives may go on or reach their end in this universe. Why we have to go over this any time we are in a mission like this? Can't you even comprehend what is at stake?''

Lachesis didn't really like the way her sister tried to reason with her, now producing a needle out of her right pocket, mockingly moving it around in her direction, as if attempting to make a decent threat with it, though she horribly failed at that.

''The truth, Atropos, is that I wouldn't hesitate to stick this little needle in one of your eyeballs if that would make you shut up for good. You think I didn't know the risks before I took on this job? I even borrowed one of your white robes to get a close look at the girl and I felt like she was gonna squash me like a little bug. And it would have happened hadn't been for this pointy thing you use to spun the damn thing and pinned the little bitch right at where it hurts, though I could do a lot more damage. You know, the kind that wouldn't even let her mother to recognize her, but...''

''That's always been your problem, Lach, you never listened to me once, so why don't you take a minute to think where your recklessness could lead you to, hmm?'', Atropos interrupted her, with a hint of concern lacing those words.

Lachesis, feeling that she might have offended her, she stopped her childlike antic and walked to her direction to give the little object to its rightful owner, only worrying if her footsteps would arouse the dead man from his slumber. Nothing disturbed the sleeping poltergeist, which filled the young woman with relief in her heart, for not making a serious blunder over this new affair.

Getting the needle back from her, Atropos looked momentarily at the sleeping form of Beetlejuice, and she turned her head to Lachesis' direction and try to explain her what their role would be by first illustrating why she still needed to be the one in charge of the thread.

''You see, it isn't really as simple as I make it to sound like, but it is still my responsibility to take on the fates of these humans, regardless of their innocence or guilt brought upon them by the very actions they caused in any lifetime they lead. Even I don't agree on aiding this man, but someone has to take the weight of that awful necessary crime, because I can't help but tr...trust Clotho's judgement on this one, no matter how strange it would seem to the both of us.''

Lachesis didn't comment on what she just heard, not really in the mood of displaying what she honestly thought of the situation. Maybe it was best she complied with Clotho's wishes for the man in question, with not much of an option than watching how all this would play out in their advantage.

Perhaps she was being immature when she was at the model and that she almost got herself in trouble, which could severely jeopardize the whole plan and that wouldn't be lead to anywhere close to a pretty end for the two of them.

It was only by fortune that Clotho intervened at that moment, drawing the attention of that girl towards her instead of the mysterious living figure that strolled the model town streets for reasons she couldn't even start to comprehend.

The minutes were flying by and as the sun was setting off in the distance, giving its place to the cool darkness of the night and the first stars to appear in the sky, Atropos stood up from her spot and walked towards the sleeping ghost, leaving her sister slightly confused, and filled with an unease feeling that came from the pit of her stomach.

However, she knew she had to have faith in Atropos' approach to these things, and shouldn't mingle with any of her methods at all. She only hoped she would do the right thing.

Once she was a few meters away from Beetlejuice, Atropos reached her left hand to touch his forehead and closed her eyes, as if putting herself into some form of a trench. Under any circumstances, the poltergeist should have woken up by the footsteps of anything that was near him, but for some reason, the woman's movements were so delicate even for him to sense anything, despite some of the noise of some of the floorboards.

After she was over with what she was doing, she started to remove her hands away from his head, now chanting a rather odd charm in a language that seemed to have its origin in both Latin and some ancient Irish dialect that was forgotten by the passage of time itself.

Lachesis was still standing in her place, with a confused expression over her face and not really knowing what Atropos was trying to achieve by this random incantation of hers. But once the charm reached its end, Atropos opened her eyes and she momentarily lifted her hands up in the air.

She then screamed something in archaic English, and the man was still undisturbed in his sleep, almost miraculously some might say, the notion that there at last the persons who would have put the self-proclaimed '''Ghost with the Most'' right beneath it's nose, in an odd sort of way.

Atropos moved backwards and silently, more concerned about her spell being more successful than her little chat with her younger sibling. As a smile was slowly forming in her lips, she crossed both her arms and waited for the response she was eager to get out of all that strange ritual of hers.

Sure enough, the dead man slowly started to mumble something, and then, he woke up with a scream that was uncharacteristic of him to do. With a look of dread spreading throughout his facial features, Beetlejuice looked shocked from whatever he was dreaming about, or whatever imagery the young woman had projected into his consciousness in the form of a dream.

He turned his head around, seeing that night has fallen, and the room was now illuminated by the shafts of light the full moon was casting down upon the earth. He tried to calm himself, but he started feeling a bit panicked when he finally spotted the two women staring at him. If these two were behind the shit he had just seen in his sleep, he would try at the very least how scared he was when he laid his eyes on the rather horrible sights he witnessed.

The last thing he remembered from those visions was a distant scream that was echoed thought the old Maitland house, and he was outside the attic door when he heard it. Rushing down the stairs that lead to the living room, he was met with something that didn't make sense even to him.

The walls of the living room were filled a strange lettering written in red paint. Unfortunately, the longer he stared at the writing on the wall, the better he come to realize that the paint wasn't an actual paint, but something that looked close to...genuine human blood.

The worse was yet to come, when he saw that almost all of the writings would end up signed with his name. It was both in the name of the star he was named after and the mispronunciation that most people spelled his name out, which was the same thing that almost set him free the night he first encountered her.

Sure, he wanted to avenge her for never really keeping her side of the bargain, and sometimes he thought he knew in his gut that if the Deetz brat would go anywhere far from annoying, he could simply snuff her out for good. Maybe appearing in the waiting room and not having the chance to get laid or married and have kids with some unspectacular guy she would wind up meet during college, or after it, at the start of her professional career as a free-lance photographer, if that was what she wanted in her life.

He drew to that conclusion from that three month period the Maitlands weren't around, and he always noticed from his hideout in the model cemetery, or within one of the model buildings, how the young girl made a habit to visit the attic close to four, five times a week, and she would always carry that little Nikon camera with her, hanging from her neck. She was very rarely without the wide-brimmed hat, and when she did, raven-black hair were framing her head, making her look so different from the other girls he had heard about, with her paleness only accentuating an aura of mystery and beauty that he had yet to found in a living person. But he couldn't forget what he was there for,

Speaking of that, he recalled a few incidents during a particular evening when Lydia was laughing at something she found in the very Handbook the deadbeats forgot to bring with them when they left to get some help, only to get a taste at the merciless treatment the waiting room bureaucrats would give to anyone who dare ask for their assistance.

He was at one of the buildings, and it must have been either the replicant of the church, or a building that looked like a mondo mall and was three or four stories high. He was at the top level, dressed in his ''Guide'' attire, getting a good look at the teenage girl, who got tired from reading the manual and put it down beside her. Then she slowly stood on her feet and when he saw what appeared to be her waist covered in this huge black fabric, he thought it was his time to retire and get ready for the next day she would come up here once again, so he turned his back to leave this crappy excuse of cardboard construct, if not a decent model building.

However, by the time he turned his back on the window that allowed him that day's great view, as though he was at the movies and he was lucky to afford for a better seat at the far end of all these rows, the girl only walked around the model and then he saw her waist looming in front of him.

She took a few steps back and lowered her head to take a good look at the model creations, and he could tell that it was today that she started marvelling at the work that went on these little houses. She run her fingers on the streets that were near her, and suddenly she stopped to examine the very building he was in. The only fortunate thing about the top floor he was in was that it had only one window, and that was the one in front of him, even though he didn't know why it was built that way.

Her right hand reached in to touch this particular window, while her other hand was on the back of the building, but she had some difficulty to get closer as her camera wouldn't let her lean any further than this. In the meantime, while she was trying to lean further and take a peek inside, the diminutive Beetlejuice was mesmerized by the size of her fingers, each of them so elegant and almost looking like hungry dogfish who wanted to break the plate glass barrier that prevented them from devouring their prey. He was a bit scared of the way things got so messed that day, thinking that all his plans for getting out would fall to pieces if he were to show himself at that point.

The figures left their place in the glass so that she could take her hat off for a moment and get the camera off of her neck as well. Once she did all that, Lydia left the Nikon right next to the little table the Handbook stood by, running her hands though her hair and wiped some of the sweat from her forehead.

She put her black hat back to her head, and started leaning towards the window of that mall, hoping to see anything inside of it. To her displease, she couldn't see much in it. For his own part, Beetlejuice was able to look right back at her in her eye. In this case, he was staring in front of a gigantic brown orb, and he could have sworn that he could even see himself reflected in that brown poodle. Before he could come up with some logical explanation to himself, the glass was starting to fog up, and it was obviously a result of the girl's breathing.

The right eye he was looking at blinked several times, though he doubted if the kid really looked at him. Nevertheless, he enjoyed the sight of a pretty girl like her, and he wanted to take advantage of the overall situation to get a close look at her face from an angle like this.

Watching her from that perspective for those last few minutes, it somehow made him want to know her little better, not that she would like to go along with what he had in mind, but she would come to agree on his terms, one way or another.

Eventually, her head was lifted upwards and he could see the nose coming to his view, only to be followed by her lips, and her mouth was now covering the peripheral view of the window.

He could see the lips parting a bit, showing her front teeth, but the very next site was something that he would like to forget, though he can help it if he felt like something wanted him to stay in his place and enjoy this rather awkward show.

Because she was so tired and not much of the sleeping type, Lydia tended to yawn most of the times she spent her evenings studying the manual, or just killing time by lounging in a couch that wasn't that far from the model, and she could spend her time doing some of her homework over there.

It was different when he looked at her yawning from a distance, but this was way too much, even for him.

Lydia that day was more tired than usual, and when she opened her mouth to yawn, Beetlejuice then knew what it must have been like for the million insects he had consumed for more than an eternity. It almost made him feel sorry for all the ways he chose to torment and eat the little bugs he came across, especially since what he was looking at now, and had he been alive and at this size, his own blood would have frozen at the mere thought of it.

As Lydia was opening her mouth as wide as it could go, she tried not to open it in a way that could make any of her inner bones crack at the attempt and feel numb for an hour and a half. Little did she knew the impact it had on the dead man who was at the premises at that point in time.

And just as her lips were departing, they gave him an unobstructed view of a staggeringly vast mouth. Two rows of sharp, gleaming white teeth framed the entrance to this rather spacious cavern, with several thick strands of glistening saliva being stretched from floor to ceiling. Lydia's pink tongue undulated below in the dark, and in the distance, a rounded uvula was dangling above a gorge of blackness.

He had to admit, though, that under any other circumstance, that mouth of hers would have been a great slide ride, though he knew that as a tiny living person he wouldn't have made it out of it alive. His only destination would have been only one way, going the route through her esophagus and into the equally spacious stomach. There he would have been trapped within her belly, where he would be digested and dissolved by the stomach acids after a few minutes inside of it.

Even if he was accidentally swallowed in the dead form he had now, given that he could survive from the acidic onslaught, it would still be difficult for him to get halfway back into her throat, where he could irritate her to cough him up with such a force that she would have no choice than to spit him in almost no time.

All these prospects were something he wouldn't like to think at that moment, though it was somewhat impossible to do so when the sight of his gargantuan mouth was still in front of him.

The window was fogged up once more from the humidity of the girl's breathing, but it was cleared off by the moment she shut her mouth. It was left slightly open, showing her front upper teeth, getting a view of her jaw while half of her neck was visible.

The tip of Lydia's tongue darted out of the humid cavern and rolled around her lips, wetting them in the process. Before the tongue retreated back to where it came from, her mouth became wide opened. And all of a sudden, the first part of her tongue accidentally licked the glass surface of the window, prompting Beetlejuice to go back and cautiously waited for what was going to happen next.

The tip only licked that particular spot and it went back inside her cavernous mouth, living behind a slimy substance that could only be a speck of glob. It was falling upon the flat surface as if it was soap, and it seemed to stick for a while.

Perhaps the reason he was somewhat turned on by this, if he had a way to explain this to himself, then that would have been the element of danger and excitement it presented, the idea of trapped inside the jaws of this massive, though unbearably attractive for a girl this age, predator. It might have been a bit of a kink, but he would those chances if it came down to that.

Having noticed that the teenager was nowhere around this particular building, he approached the window and touched the one spot where the spittle was still clinging to.

''At least, I didn't have to be a ''Crocodile Dundee'' for little Lydia Deetz. Well, kiddo has one hell of a tongue, that's for sure. Lucky old man, you weren't on the other side of the glass. Damn my luck. Could have used a little excitement myself. But then again, why bother endangering my tiny ass to satisfy the bitch's appetite?'', Beetlejuice mumbled himself, putting his hand back in one of the pockets of his coat, only to produce a little notepad.

The poltergeist flipped through the pages, wondering if he should make a note of that, just in case he had the urge to indulge into this fantasy and ruin the only chance he would have to make her say his name three times.

The tricky part in all this was how he would help her guessed it right, and maybe a game of charades will do the thing.

Meanwhile, unaware of the scare she had given to the ghost by yawning in front of him, Lydia walked towards the table to retrieve the Handbook. Since yesterday, she was studying a peculiar segment that was about, according to the chapter heading, ways to make ''the dead rise again among the living''.

It wasn't really helpful in that matter, as it only listed a small number of poem-like charms that even she couldn't understand, and it gave her the feeling that this was perhaps the dumbest part in the whole book, so it was probably not a good idea to try to decipher the meaning of all twelve charms.

Nevertheless, she took the book and quickly flipped though to find something else that would help her pass the last few minutes she would spend in the room, waiting for her either her father or step-mother to call her up for tonight's dinner.

Once she realized that she had covered half the book, Lydia became increasingly bored with the thing and put it back to the table, taking only her Nikon in her hands.

She was too tired from helping her father out with some of Delia's sculptures, and she could pick it up tomorrow morning, in an attempt to see whether there were still a few parts that she could read over and have a better understanding of what they were actually saying about the deceased and their habits in the afterlife.

While she was heading from the door, Lydia felt a tingeing sensation coming from her stomach. And that's when she felt like she could use some of the meal Delia cooked and just try not to upset her dad with one of the comments she gave whenever the redheaded woman opened her mouth about the plans she had for bringing the aesthetics of New York life and art in the heart of this small town.

The only thing that mattered now was filling her empty belly, which signaled to her that she still needed to feed herself anyway that she can, regardless of what Delia was cooking at the moment. Anything that could fill her stomach would be good enough.

And as she was descending the stairs after closing the attic door behind her, the poltergeist had barely made it out of the mall's entrance in time, feeling rather sorry for not being able to catch her fleeting form and take one final look at her face.

Reminding himself that this wasn't the time to let any inner fetishes to get over his head, Beetlejuice headed back to his hideout in the Winter River cemetery, trying to think of a way to get the deadbeats that were known as the Maitlands to unleash him unto the unsuspecting family that currently resided in their house, maybe catching more glimpses of the teenager's face.

With the trip down memory lane coming to an end and not much to recall from that strange dream he had, the point where he couldn't remember any further than trying to locate the source of screaming and sobbing sounds after he spotted the blood-stained writing, Beetlejuice focused his attention towards the two female figures that were staring at him all the time they were in that basement.

Without losing his temper, though careful enough to conceal his panicked state, he tried to open his mouth, but he couldn't think of anything to say. The older of the two girls, however, walked a few meters in his direction and spoke in his place, with a devious smile framing her face.

''You probably don't know who we are, really, or what I do. But I have a feeling you had a run in with my little sister here, isn't that right, Lachesis?''

The young girl that was Lachesis only nodded her head, letting her silence confirm the older woman's statement. For his part, Beetlejuice did his best to master up all his courage to ask them one simple thing he needed to know.

''Will this damned journey ever end? When we're gonna get to the good parts, bitch?'', the poltergeist exclaimed with angry eyes pointed at the brunette woman, who never allowed the dread he was trying to bring up to her discourage her from what had to be done.

Reflecting the stare back with her blue orbs, the woman who was named Atropos restricted her answers to a handful of words that the man himself only got to use in occasions such as this, but the tables were turned for good.

''We are already there, big stud. It's showtime.''

From the way the older brunette used the one line that meant a whole lot of trouble for whatever living thing stood in his way, Beetlejuice knew that his problems were about to become a bit more complicated than before.

''Hope you give your best shot at this, babes, cos you ain't gonna a second chance, or even a third one. Give your best, that's all I got to say to you...bitch.''

Atropos, however, was still standing in her spot, her smile still curling in her lips, not frightened by the ghost's verbal threat. And she chose to respond to him once again in his own words, in a way.

''Like I said, my little big stud, the good stuff is about to start. So relax. Sit back and enjoy the show.''


End file.
